


You Are The Magic In Me

by Finally_Facing_Failure



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M, Magic, figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:35:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9609704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finally_Facing_Failure/pseuds/Finally_Facing_Failure
Summary: I’d never been one to listen to rumours, and these particular ones seemed especially unrealistic, but standing here right now, in front of the house of the man I admired so… Maybe the rumours were correct.Yuuri wants to be coached by Victor, but Victor is from a magical family, and so are the creatures that live on the Nikiforov-grounds. Is Yuuri going to be able to climb to the figure-skating top?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DeathDoesntDiscriminate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathDoesntDiscriminate/gifts).



I was standing in front of a huge gate when I realized. I’d never been one to listen to rumours, and these particular ones seemed especially unrealistic, but standing here right now, in front of the house of the man I admired so… Maybe the rumours were correct.

According to the town-gossips, the Nikiforov family was unlike any other. Multiple people spoke of their peculiar way of living, one filled with witchcraft. Now, the idea of a magical family wasn’t so odd, there were at least a thousand in this country alone. It was just that magical families didn’t usually live out in the open, and the Nikiforov family had always been the centre of attention.

The family was famous for their figure skating abilities. The youngest son, Yuri, would make a (probably promising) debut it the adult-league this year, and the oldest son, Victor, had won the Nationals five consecutive times. According to magazines and news reports, Victor was going to retire, but he hadn’t commented yet.

Victor had been my hero ever since I was little, he was the very reason I started skating in the first place. One drunken night, about a week ago, I ran into him at a party. I’d mentioned being a figure skater myself, and that had gotten Victor quite excited. I’m not sure how I did it, but I went to the party with no expectations and an inferiority complex and I came out with high hopes and Victor as my coach.

In order to train with him though, I’d have to move in with him. With Victor and his family of alleged wizards. I hadn’t been afraid for one moment, not convinced of the accusations made, but when I looked past that gate, into a huge garden that was supposedly filled with all kinds of creatures I’d never imagined were real, I felt my knees weaken.

Standing before me, about ready to open the gates, was a creature so disgustingly ugly I could not look at his face for longer than a few seconds at a time. Their face seemed to be moving, each flash of surface more disturbing than the last. The creature seemed unbothered by my staring and looking away, they just opened the gates and moved aside so I could enter the property that would now be my home.

I didn’t really know what to say, and I suspected the creature would not understand me anyhow, so I just nodded at them and started walking the road that led to a huge villa. The villa had three stories, with each more windows than the house I’d grown up in had in total. This was so much more than what I’d expected.

Before I’d even take as much as three steps, a voice startled me from behind. “Yuuri! You’re here!” For a split second I wondered if it was the disagreeable creature talking to me, but when I turned around I was happily surprised to see Victor. “Hello.” I just nodded shyly. Victor gave me a bright smile, the kind that makes you want to squint your eyes because of the happiness in it.

“I’m so glad you’re here! I see you’ve met _Pravu_?” Victor asked, taking one of my bags and signalling me to keep walking. “Who?” I asked, frowning. “ _Pravuchri,_ my family’s gate-keeper! They may look frightening, but believe me, they’re as sweet as they come!” Victor beamed at me. Somehow I couldn’t quite believe that. A creature that startling seemed to be made to be some sort of evil being.

“Oh right, yeah.” I just said, not wanting to insult Victor. “If you think it’s disgusting you can just say so, moron.” An annoyed voice said from somewhere next to us. I couldn’t quite place where the voice had come from, and there was no one to be seen, but Victor just smiled softly. “Yuri, you ought to reveal yourself when you talk to someone.”

A teen suddenly appeared next to me, lazily tying his blonde hair back in a ponytail. If the gate-keeper hadn’t been enough to convince me of this family’s abilities, Yuri appearing next to me certainly was. My expression must’ve revealed how shocked I was, because the boy gave me a devilish grin, before disappearing again. I heard footsteps running away, and I could see the pebbles on the path moving under Yuri’s feet, but there was no one in sight again.

I looked at Victor, and found him watching me, biting his lip. “I’m truly sorry for my brother, Yuuri. I hadn’t wanted to surprise you with my family’s magic in this way. Though I don’t doubt you’ve heard the rumours, I didn’t want to shock you and make you run away in fright before our first training session.” I found myself smiling a little.

Victor and I had only met last week, but he seemed like such a gentle and kind person, already caring about whether or not I wanted him to coach me. It was a bit odd, to be honest. Victor was an amazing skater, having won so many competitions, but still managing to surprise everyone. That he’d end his career in what was seemingly the prime of it was already reason for concern, but coaching me, an inexperienced little ball of anxiety, it just didn’t seem right.

“I’m fine, really. Does your brother always scare guests by turning invisible?” I joked half-heartedly. Victor sighed. “I’m not sure, we don’t get a lot of guests. Most people are afraid that they’ll turn into wizards when they spend too much time around us. That’s bullshit, obviously. Magic is passed through genes, not air or something.” I just nodded, not having thought of that at all.

We reached the villa, and found Yuri leaning against the door there. “The cook wants to know what your favourite dish is.” He mumbled. “Katsudon!” I yelled out, a little too excited. Yuri just raised an eyebrow at me. “What the heck is that?” “Oh, my mom makes it for me, it’s pork cutlet bowl.” Before I could offer further information about the food I was so obsessed with, Yuri turned around to where I supposed the kitchen was.

“You’re lucky, Yuko knows how to make just about any dish, and she’s very keen on new culinary adventures.” Victor said, smiling sideways at me. “Her husband actually works at the skating rink we’re going to be practicing at, and her triplets usually hang there too, on their phones.” He continued, leading me upstairs, to a room at the end of the hall.

“You’ll be staying here, next to my room. I’m sorry if it’s a bit small, or if you don’t like the furniture, I only had a week to prepare for your arrival.” Victor said, opening the door and putting my bag inside. The room was quite the opposite of small. My old room could’ve easily fitted in it three times, at the very least. The furniture, though not my style, was beautiful and probably really expensive.

“It’s amazing Victor!” I said, my excitement evident in my voice. Victor smiled shyly and blushed, two things I hadn’t thought him capable of. Victor seemed so confident and sure of himself, I hadn’t thought my words and actions could touch him, like, at all. The contrary appeared true, however, as Victor did seem to care, a lot. I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around that, Victor’s apparent interest in me. I wasn’t that extraordinary.

“I’ll let you settle in now, I’ll be in the room next to yours. Yuko will call up when its dinner time, and I’ll take you to the dining room.” I nodded my thanks, and put my other bag on the floor. I’d start unpacking now, until dinner. Regardless of why I was invited here, I’d make it worth it. This would probably be my last season as a skater, and I was resolute to make it my best.

 

Victor had been right, Yuko’s cooking was amazing. She’d never tried this recipe before, but she made a near-perfect replication of my mother’s cooking, which was quite an achievement. I’d have thought that in a house as fancy as this one, residents would have to have dinner alone, and the ‘servants’ would’ve had to eat the scraps.

This wasn’t accurate at all. Victor, Yuri and I had dinner with Yuko, Yuko’s husband Takeshi and their three kids. There were also two maids whose name I didn’t know, but they were quiet and reserved, unlike Yuko, who immediately started interrogating me about my life, much to Victor’s amusement. Yuri just stared at us, annoyed.

“So, Yuuri, how did you get into figure skating?” Takeshi asks me, whilst scraping out his bowl. Across the table from me, three little heads were watching me intensely. “Uh- Well… I’ve always been into ballet, my friend Minako taught me. It actually wasn’t until I saw Victor skate that I decided I wanted to try that, too.” I said, blushing when Victor smiled at me.

“That is so sweet!” Axel, one of the little girls, swooned. “I ship it!” Her sister Loop proclaimed, whilst Lutz frantically nodded her little head. “Girls, don’t be jumping to conclusions!” Yuko said, frowning at them. “Though I do wonder, Victor. Why did you decide to be a coach when the Board accused you of-“ “That would be enough, Yuko!” Victor interrupted her rudely. It went quiet around the table, nobody daring to speak.

“I’m sorry.” Victor mumbled, leaving the table. I shot Yuko a confused look, but she blushed and started clearing the table, commanding her husband and kids to do the same. As soon as they were all in the kitchen, Yuri leaned toward me mysteriously. “Since you’re obviously curious, and I’m actually not as much of ass as I look, I’ll tell you.” Yuko came in again, and Yuri didn’t speak until she’d left the room, evidently not wanting her to hear.

“I think that by now even an idiot like you must’ve figured out what our family is, so it won’t surprise you to know that we’re involved in magic. It isn’t illegal, at least not anymore, but people still judge us immensely for being magical, like we can _help_ it.

“Victor was accused of using magic to enhance his skating, increasing his speed magically and clouding the judges’ eyes and that sort of crap. They didn’t have any real proof, so they couldn’t arrest him for it, but they forbade him to compete in figure skating ever again.” Yuri said, matter of factly.

I stared at him, mauling over the words he’d just spoken. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked him. “Because you have the right to know what sort of family you just walked into. My parents won’t be around much, as they’ll be working, but they already hate you. They see you as the confirmation that their son’s career is over. Plus, you’ll be competing against me, so that doesn’t really help either.”

I narrowed my eyes. Yuri wasn’t exactly being hostile, but I didn’t get the idea he was telling me this to help me either. “Your point?” I asked, frowning. Yuri smiled, apparently liking my (newly found) boldness. “You’ll have to fight to fit in here, to stop feeling like an outsider. But the odds aren’t precisely in favour of you winning the Nationals. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

With that, Yuri left the dining room, and I heard the front door slam moments later.

 

I’d been here a week. My days had been filled with training, and really intense ones at that. My old coach wasn’t nearly as hard on me as Victor, but then again, I already saw myself improving more than I would’ve in a month with my former coach. Victor insisted on getting to know me, making me spill about my family, friends and hobbies. He himself preferred to stay a mystery though, only vaguely answering the few questions I asked him.

I just hoped he’d open up to me eventually. By revealing who I felt I was, I hoped to encourage him to do the same. I had trouble with it, as I wasn’t really used to sharing this much, but he stimulated me to try. Right now, we were in the kitchen, making breakfast for ourselves as Yuko was at the rink. Victor had popped some bread in the huge toaster, as that was the only thing he could do without setting the place on fire. He was surprised to find that I could actually make a mean omelette.

We were discussing what quad I should work on first. In just two months I’d have my first competition, and then, six months later, I’d hopefully enter the Nationals. The competition was fierce. I knew some of the competitors, from the disaster that was last year. There was Christophe, JJ, and Otabek, and of course Yuri would enter this year. Also Phichit, my old friend from when we trained in Detroit.

Suddenly, Victor’s father, Yakov, walked in and gave me a condescending look. I’d seen him around a few times in the past week, but since he was holed up in his office, working, most of the time, and had skipped all the meals Yuko prepared, I hadn’t had the opportunity to get a close look. The stern look that seemed to be permanently etched into his skin did not disappear when he was dealing with family, it seemed. The lines in his face formed a frown so unyielding that I almost couldn’t believe he was Victor’s father. I’d never met someone as stern as him.

Okay, scratch that. Victor’s mother walked in, her emerald-green eyes filled with fury. “So you’re the scum my eldest son dragged in, huh?” She pressed her lips together in a thin line, raising one eyebrow. The woman scared me, and I unconsciously took a step closer to Victor. “You’ll never beat our Yura. Yuratchka would sell his soul in order to win, you just think about that.” She spat.

“Lilia, calm down.” Yakov grumbled, grabbing some of the toast Victor had prepared. Lilia then turned her wrath to Yakov, and chased him all the way to his workroom, where the voices disappeared after a door slammed. Hmm, meeting the parents didn’t go so well then.

“My parents don’t get along very well.” Victor shrugged, as if the anger we’d just witnessed didn’t bother him at all. I’d almost believed him, were it not for the pain that lurked in those ice-blue eyes. Yuri came in, his eyes slightly red, but defiant nonetheless. “Katsudon.” He said, greeting me. I nodded at him, watching as he, too, stole a piece of toast and went away with it.

“Is your family always this much fun?” I frowned, tilting my head at Victor. Victor shot me a look of pure irritation, one that could’ve easily make Yuri apologise. It disappeared from his face in an instant though, replaced by a face full of regret. Wow, I hadn’t thought that the kind Victor I’d gotten to know a bit, was capable of such a look. “I’m so sorry Yuuri, I didn’t mean to react that harshly!”

I just shrugged, giving him a tiny smile. “It’s all right, but what was with that though? You seemed to fit in with your family perfectly for a moment, I’d thought you to be a little less… aggressive.” “My family has this tradition, I guess that was me trying to uphold it.” Victor smiled sadly. “What tradition?” I asked him curiously. Victor laughed, genuinely by the sound of it. “The holy tradition of not giving a shit.”

 

Victor was going to show me the grounds today. It’d been ten days exactly since I came here, and Yuri’s words echoed through my head almost every day. “ _You’ll have to fight to fit in here, to not feel like an outsider.”_ He’d been right. Yakov and Lilia ignored me, and that was when they were being nice. The unusually large stream of insults they threw at my head everyday wasn’t improving my anxiety, and I was already a bit messed up to begin with.

Regardless of my being here for ten days, I’d had the time nor the energy to go into the backyard. According to Victor, that was where they kept the magical creatures, apart from _Pravuchri_ , who stayed in the front yard. I was following Victor, who was walking toward a big shed. I wasn’t really paying attention, as I was once again thinking about fitting in here. So naturally, I didn’t notice when Victor abruptly stopped walking and I walked face-first into his back.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” I half-shouted, patting Victor’s back awkwardly, like that was going to make things better. “It’s fine Yuuri, relax” Victor laughed, his eyes crinkling. I blushed, holding in the urge to tell him how cute he looked. Since when did I think of him as cute? He was my coach for God’s sake. Okay, never mind that, I’d always thought he was cute, I’d just never felt like saying it aloud.

Victor’s eyes were glued to the patch of grass next to the path we’d been walking on. At first I was confused, not really seeing what he was looking at, but when I looked closely, I saw ants crawling from the grass, over the path, disappearing in tiny holes in the ground. They were bigger than most ants I’d seen before, but still quite tiny.

“Are those magical?” I asked, not understanding why Victor was so engrossed in watching them. “Most everything around here is.” Victor smiled, putting his hand in the way of the ants, so he could pick a few up. He smiled at me, holding the ants closer to my face so I could look at them. They were staring up at me, not moving. “Watch this.” Victor smiled mischievously.

He put the ants on the ground, and before they could find their way back to their kith, Victor stood on them. “What the h _ell_?!” I shouted, my eyes big. “Why’d you just do that?” Victor laughed, not lifting his feet to see the damage he’d done. Before I knew it, Victor started moving. Not by walking though, no, he seemed to be moving without doing anything. I frowned, not comprehending what was happening until Victor lifted his feet to show the ants, still perfectly fine.

“How did you just do that?” I asks, amazed, previous fury forgotten. “I didn’t, the _Fortica_ did. These aren’t ordinary ants, you see. They are way stronger than humans, and not just relatively. They also have impenetrable skin and they seem to understand me when I talk to them.” Victor said, beaming at the little animals.

“We have hundreds of them here, but they’re quite rare in the most parts of the world.” I looked at them, fascinated with their strength. “They’re amazing!” “I’m glad you like them. Most people would be afraid of them, or think they’re evil. That’s not factual at all, the _Fortica_ are some of the kindest individuals on earth, just content to live in peace and harmony.” I smiled, Victor looked so at peace here, surrounded by tiny creatures. Nothing like the stern coach I saw in him most days.

“Come on.” Said Victor. “I want to show you the _Pulloquentes_.” “The what?” Victor just smiled at me, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward the shed. “It’s feeding time, so you can do the honour.” When Victor opened the shed, I was expecting to see a normal cowshed, but this was quite the opposite.

The shed was filled with cushions and straw. Every nook and cranny was covered with either one of those. Upon them were dozens of chickens. They looked like your everyday chicken, but I’d thought that of the ants, and they turned out to be magical. I looked up at Victor, who got a tiny box out of his pocket. He shook it, the sound reminding me of that of a Maracas.

Precipitously, every single chicken head in the room turned toward us. Victor swiftly closed the door behind us, and just in time, as the chickens noisily started making their way toward us. Instead of cackling though, the chickens talked. It was quite incomprehensible, to be honest, but the words I could hear sounded like ‘Food’, ‘Mine’ and ‘Gimme’.

Victor handed me the box, giving me the chance to look at it closely. It was barely bigger than my fist, way too small to contain enough food for all these chickens. It was a cylinder, divided into four sections, each with their own lid. There was green, yellow, pink and blue. “Am I supposed to feed them this? Is this going to be enough?” I asked. Victor smiled, apparently amused.

“It’s bigger on the inside. You can pick a colour, the same food will pour out, regardless of what you pick. According to legends, every colour represents a certain type of person. If, on your first try, you pick the colour that suits you most, personality-wise, the chickens ought to lay bigger eggs. It’s never worked for me though.”

“What are these colours supposed to represent?” I asked, frowning at the colours. They didn’t really mean anything to me at all. “That’s for you to find out. As far as I know, I’m not supposed to tell you my opinion.” I stared at the colours some more, trying to ignore the _Pulloquentes_ in front of me. They were now picking at my shoes, trying to get me to hurry up.

I decided to go with the yellow lid, hoping it’d stand for loyalty, dedication and kindness. I wasn’t quite sure if that was what it meant, but my intuition was all I had to go on. I threw the food on the floor, astounded when I realized that there indeed fitted quite a lot more food in the box than I’d expected.

After a few moments of me pouring food for the chickens, Victor took the box from my hand, putting it back in his pocket. “They can’t get too fat.” Victor joked, and together we sat down on one of the cushions in the far back of the shed, watching the _Pulloquentes_ quietly. They kept mumbling things, softly, while they ate.

“What are they saying?” I asked Victor, trying to hear. “Mostly nonsense. Yuri’s taught them a few bad words, and they repeat me and my parents too. Sometimes though, they predict things. It’s why a lot of people want to keep them as pets, but they can get annoying if you have to be around them all the time.” I laughed, imagining living with them. I’d hate them within a day, they talked too much.

“Have they ever predicted something for you?” I asked curiously. Victor’s smile diminished a little, and he looked down. “Yeah, a couple of times. Only one big one though.” I opened my mouth to ask what it was about, but Victor beat me to it. “Don’t ask. Please. I don’t want to talk about it.”

I sighed, giving in. Just when I thought I was making progress, with him opening up to me about his world a little, he returns to being this mysterious person again. It’s like we’re trying to sail a boat together, but whenever I’ve figured out where we’re going, he adjusts the sails. Maybe I was never meant for seafaring.

Just then, we hear barking coming from outside. “Makkachin!” Victor says, smiling like a little kid. “Wait, who?” I ask, following Victor outside, careful to close the door so the _Pulloquentes_ won’t escape. Once I’d shut the door, I turned around to see Victor cuddling a brown-haired poodle. I sucked in a breath, not believing my eyes. The dog looked exactly like the poodle I used to have, Vichan. I knew it wasn’t him though, as Vichan died two years ago. Plus, Victor had mentioned most animals here were magical, so this ‘dog’ was probably too.

Lilia was standing next to Victor and his dog, trying (and failing) to hide a smile. Wow, I hadn’t thought her capable of such a positive emotion. “The vet said that he’d be okay. Do try to keep him away from Yuko’s steamed buns though.” Lilia said. She shot me a venomous glance, before returning to the house.

“Yuuri, come meet my closest friend!” Victor said, petting Makkachin, who was energetically wagging his tail. “Well hi there!” I said, as I sat next to them. I didn’t know if the dog would allow me to pet him, so I just sat there awkwardly. “You’re not afraid of dogs are you?” Victor frowned at me. “Well, no, I love them. I just didn’t know if he’d want me to pet him or not.” I said, blushing. Victor gave me a weird look, before taking my hand and placing it in Makkachin’s fur.

Victor’s hands were really soft. Did he wash his hands with hand cream every day or something? Fuck, his hands had only touched mine for a moment, nothing compared to the abyss that is the infinity of life. I wanted to take his hand and never let go, but that would be weird, so I just petted Makkachin instead.

“His fur is really soft.” I said, smiling a bit. Victor beamed, hugging his pet. “I know right? He fell ill two weeks ago, and he had to stay at the vet’s for observation, but he’s fine now.” I looked into Makkachin’s intelligent eyes. They seemed to be inspecting me, looking right to my soul. I’d have thought that would make me nervous, but Makkachin’s eyes didn’t seem to be judging me.

I smiled sincerely, petting the dog’s head. Victor smiled at me and that is how we remained the rest of the day, sitting outside a barn of talking chickens, petting a magic dog, whilst talking about ice skating. Yep, my life was completely normal.

Even more normal, when Lilia brought me some _Pulloquentes’_ eggs to make omelettes with, and we all simultaneously noticed they were quite a lot bigger than usual. “Have you been feeding them too much?” Lilia asked Victor, frowning at the eggs she was holding. Victor just smiled and winked at me.

 

It’d been two-and-a-half months since I’d started living with Victor and his family of, well, mean magic people. It’s funny how I felt the need to keep track of the amount of time I’d been here. It was like I was watching the hourglass of my remaining time as a skater (and thus my time with Victor), and each day that passed was a grain of sand dropping down.

I didn’t know why I thought it so important to know how long I had here. Maybe it was because I wasn’t really ready to end my career. Or maybe because I’d made this place my home a little. Or maybe, probably, it was because I was afraid Victor would hate me if I quit.

I didn’t want to lose him. Not just because I was quite certain I had a huge crush on him, but also because I wanted him in my life as friend. Phichit and I called most every week, and a part of our conversation was always how Victor and I were faring. Which was exactly what we were talking about right now.

“Yuuri, seriously! You have to make a decision! Do you want to be his friend?” Phichit asked. “Yes, definitely. I just want to be his boyfriend more!” I mumbled, hoping no one would hear me from my room. “Well then you either tell him you like him and see what happens, or get over him.” Phichit stayed quiet for a moment. “I suggest you tell him. I haven’t seen you two together yet, but I already ship you!”

“Phichit you’ve never even met him. Besides, I can’t tell him! If he doesn’t feel the same way, it will be too awkward for us to stay friends. I don’t want to lose him.” I said sadly. “Yuuri, listen to me.” Phichit said seriously. “You’ll never know how he feels about you if you don’t ask. I know it’s scary, but either you tell him or you accept you’ll never know.”

I sighed, knowing Phichit was right. I didn’t have the right to complain if I didn’t at least try to better my situation. “Fine, I’ll tell him. I can’t right now, though.” “Why not?” Phichit asked, sounding defeated. “Because the competition is in six months and I can’t risk us being on wrong terms during that. He is my coach and I am his student before anything else.”

“Although I can understand and respect that, I think you ought to follow your heart.” Phichit says dramatically. I sighed, realizing that even Phichit couldn’t help me now. I had to do this, to ensure I wouldn’t go mad. “I’ll call you if anything happens, okay?” I said, ready to hang up. “Call me if nothing happens, too!” Phichit said, before hanging up.

I smiled, glad that I had such a dedicated friend on my side. I’d see him tomorrow, and then the day after would be the first competition. Even though this would be our first competition competing against each other, I was sure it wouldn’t influence our friendship. We were both devoted skaters, professional both on and off the ice, but at the end of the day we’d be there for each other.

The system for placing in Nationals worked like this: There were four competitions, and each skater had to participate in two. You were given points for your standing after both of the competitions; 1 point for first place, 2 for second, 3 for third, etc. The top six skaters with the lowest amount of points would continue their fight in National Competition. If you tied, which happened quite often, the judges would look at your scores in the Short Program and the Free Skate.

In order to place, I needed to work insanely hard. I wasn’t as agile as Yuri, as technically advanced as JJ, or as charming (if that’s what you’d call it) as Christophe. I was sure that I had the whole ‘Eros’ thing down, after practicing in secret with Minako last night, but would I be daring enough to perform it in front of thousands of strangers, to perform it in front of Victor?

That was the point really; Victor. He and I were definitely- well – Something. But how was I supposed to know what the hell was going on between us? I wasn’t experienced at all! How could I perform a Short Program that, let’s be honest, I was skating for him, if I hadn’t a clue of what he was to me?

I needed time to think, only there wasn’t any. The Short Program was tomorrow, the Free Skate the day after. I needed to know now, yet I didn’t. Sighing, I pulled a pillow over my head. I was supposed to be meeting Victor at the rink in five minutes, but I hadn’t felt like getting up this morning. Instead, I’d spend my morning calling Phichit and pondering about my feelings.

Rather than hurrying up and at least attempting t0 be on time, I decided to stay in bed and ponder some more. I was doing just that when Victor burst into my room, looking furious. “Yuuri! I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour! Why aren’t you at the rink?” He half-shouted, interrupting my thoughts harshly. I turned bright red, I was such an ass! I could’ve at least called Victor, pretending to be sick, instead of just not showing up.

“I’m so sorry Victor! I-“I started, but Victors expression changed from angry to worry as he interrupted me. “Are you alright? You aren’t sick, are you?” He said, putting a hand on my forehead as to check my temperature. “Oh, no! I’m fine, really.” I said, moving away from him. Victor frowned at me, tilting his head in adorable fashion. “Are you sure?” I nodded in response, trying to look convincing, and probably failing.

Victor smiled softly at me, then, looking as if he understood. Which was quite impossible, as I didn’t even really knew what was going on with me myself. Well, I sort of knew, but I didn’t understand. “Today, we will take the day off and visit your family.” I nearly fainted right there. My family worked at the onsen they owned, and they were incredibly busy. They hadn’t been able to visit me once so far, and we only had time to have a short phone call once or twice a week.

My family, being as poor as they were, didn’t have money to hire a lot of help around the onsen. Besides, my mom would never trust anyone else in the kitchen. She wouldn’t even let my sister, Mari, in most times, and Mari was about as good a cook as my mom. As I’d been busy training, I hadn’t seen them since I got here.

I then realised I hadn’t actually said anything to Victor yet, who was staring at me mystified. In a sudden burst of happiness and gratitude, I wrapped my arms around him and started nodding my head enthusiastically. “I’d love to!” Victor seemed a bit taken aback at first, but he then put his arms around me as well. As I realised the hug was lingering, I hesitated. Was I supposed to let go first?

But then again, it’s not like I minded being in his arms. There was something about it, being engulfed in this little cocoon of safety and friendliness. It made me feel at peace. Victor let go then, a slight hint of blush on his cheeks. He smiled kindly at me, if not a bit shy. I hadn’t thought of him as shy. True, he wasn’t as hostile as his family, but nervous was not a word I’d have thought him familiar with.

We spent the entire day with my family, taking Yuri with us so he could have a day of rest too. Although he sported a scowl most of the day, I saw him smile when he thought no one was looking. I took Yuri and Victor for a dip in the onsen, which they both seemed to enjoy. My family was delighted to see me, and Mari actually looked up when I entered, which was about as much of an ‘I love you’ as I expected from her.

At the end of the day, when we had to say goodbye, my mother whispered in my ear when she hugged me. “That Victor is a very nice boy, you just make sure he stays yours, son!” Before I had the time to tell her that was not the case AT ALL, she was off to hug Victor goodbye. Even Yuri got a hug, although a reluctant one.

When we were on the two-hour train ride home, I got a call from my mother to inform me that some of the broken baths in the onsen were fixed. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, hadn’t it been for her exact wording. “It was like magic!” I looked at Victor next to me and I smiled.

 

Today was going to be big, no matter what happened. I was either going to leave today’s Short Program with high hopes for tomorrow, or with a feeling my last season as a skater was doomed. No matter what, I’d decided one thing: Today was for Victor, tomorrow was for me. My Short Program was me trying to seduce Victor, and I’d accepted that last night. I’d never win if I didn’t admit that to myself.

My Free Skate, however, would be mostly for me. It was supposed to tell the tale of my career, all the ups and downs included. Granted, Victor was a huge part of that, regardless of the fact I’d only known him less than three months, but it told _my_ story, not his. I was the only person who could skate to this song, tell its story.

I was determined. Yesterday, when _Pravuchri_ had come to bid us goodbye at the gates, their face didn’t disturb me as much as usual. Today, though I was nervous, I wasn’t as anxious as I usually was at competitions. Maybe it was because of my decision, maybe it was because of Victor’s presence. I didn’t care, I was going to try my best today.

I skated my Short Program with all the Eros I had in me. I thought of Victor and me, tried to seduce him with all I had. And apparently I succeeded, scoring almost as much points as Yuri, who was nearly flawless. Phichit was just behind me, and after him Minami. Sitting in the Kiss and Cry with Victor, I glared at him sideways. Was he aware that it’d all been for him?

“Congratulations, Yuuri! That was a higher score than I was expecting! Didn’t you say you performed worse when you’re nervous? I didn’t notice at all!” Victor smiled at me, hugging me sideways. I just flushed bright red, as was usual when he was close to me. “I guess I was less bothered by it than usual, but I still felt it.” I mumbled. Victor led me from the Kiss and Cry, past the area of interviewers that were eager to speak with us.

“You know you can talk to me right?” Victor said, as soon as we reached a relatively private area. I was a bit overwhelmed by his sudden attention to my mental health. It wasn’t as if he was ignorant about it before, but he never really took an interest in it. It was probably because of my little episode the other day.

“I know Victor.” I said, smiling a little. “Thanks.” Victor squinted his eyes, clearly not satisfied with my answer. “Just know that it’s important to me that you’re okay.” He said, looking deeply into my eyes. For a moment, I thought that something, anything, would happen between us, but we just stood there, staring into each other’s eyes.

Then, the announcer’s voice was heard over the speakers. “Will the contesters please gather near the rink? We’ll be announcing the winners soon!” I laughed soundlessly. As if we didn’t already know who’d won. I was in second, Yuri in first and Phichit in third. If I did well in the Free Skate tomorrow, I’d be able to keep it that way.

After the announcements, Victor and I went to our hotel. We were the only ones staying at this one, as this was the only hotel in the area that allowed their guests to bring their pets. Makkachin had stayed behind at the hotel in a special kennel for the duration, but he seemed happy to see us. He barked joyfully, wagging his tail at like 30 miles per hour. He pushed his nose in my hands, begging for me to pet him.

Victor and I took him up to our (shared) room. There, I sat next to Makkachin and gave him a very precise grooming, petting every bit of his soft fur. Victor soon joined me, and we just sat there for a while, in silence. At some point our hands touched, and we just stopped petting Makkachin in order to keep our hands close to each other.

I pointedly avoided Victor’s gaze, too afraid of confrontation, but by the way his hand kept getting closer to mine, until we were practically holding hands, I figured he felt about this occurrence as I did. Makkachin moved away, obviously annoyed we weren’t paying him enough attention, but our hands stayed pretty much linked.

Unfortunately, Victor’s phone went off, and he went into the sitting room in order to answer. Makkachin came back to me, putting his fluffy head in my lap. “Do you think he likes me?” I asked the dog, desperate for some wisdom. Makkachin looked at me for a moment, but then he just huffed and closed his eyes. So much for wisdom.

The next day I’d woken up early for the Free Skate, using my extra time to make sure I was really awake. I was up last, and I was actually a bit more nervous than yesterday. To make sure I wouldn’t wake Victor, I went to the rink early, planning to grab some breakfast at the cafeteria there. When I settled down with a croissant and a drink, Phichit came over to eat with me.

“Hi Yuuri! Great Short Program yesterday! I really hadn’t seen that side of you before!” He said, as he put his plate down. “Thanks! I was surprised myself! By the way, your skating has really improved since we trained together in Detroit!” We talked about skating for a bit, until the conversation, inevitably, turned toward the subject of Victor.

“Why do you always want to talk about him?” I asked jokingly. “Because I have no love life and I live vicariously through you, obviously. Now, spill. Did anything happen yet?” Phichit said, moving forward. “Well, not really. There are these… Moments, I guess.” “Well that’s vague! What do you mean by that?” I thought about that, what did I mean? Sure, Victor and I looked at each other a lot lately, but was that to be called a ‘moment’?

Before I could even formulate an answer, Minami came over to us, eyes big. “Were the two of you talking about Victor?” Minami asked, and I went bright red. “OMG! I ship you two so much! Is it canon?” Minami squealed, looking at me intensely. “Uhm…” I said, not sure what to say. “No, Minami, it’s not yet. And we’d prefer it if you wouldn’t talk about it, if you know what I mean.” Phichit said, winking.

Saying that would probably only fuel Minami’s fanboy-fire, but at least it got him to go away for a minute. “Thanks, I wasn’t sure what to say.” I mumbled. Phichit just gave me a knowing look. “Don’t lie, you were going to say you ship it too!” He joked. “Who do you ship?” Victor’s voice sounded beside us. I looked up into his smiling face, and unconsciously felt myself smile, too.

“Myself and Shrek, clearly!” I smiled, as he sat down. Victor laughed brightly. “Yes, that’s my OTP!” We just sat there, joking, until it was almost time for our last practice in this competition. As I stood up, I felt much better than this morning. Everything was going to be all right.

As I’d expected, the Free Skate didn’t change our positions. Yuri (or Yurio, as my sister now called him) won first place. I was second, Phichit third and Minako had worked his way up to fourth place. Victor hugged me tightly when I exited the stage, almost cutting off my breath-supply. It was another lingering hug, but this time I was the one that let go. “Thank you for being my coach.” I said solemnly. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw Victor’s eyes water. “Thank you for being my trainee.”

 

One of the things I hate most about being in love with someone, is how fucking ignorant you get. You’re hoping they like you too, but you keep telling yourself they don’t, until you actually believe it. Victor was constantly asking me to go places with him, and I did, but in my mind it didn’t mean what I wanted it to mean. In my mind it was just him hanging out with me, as my friend.

Even as the prolonged hugs and stares continued, even as Victor took anything as an excuse to hold my hand, I did not believe him to feel as I did. So you can imagine I was astonished when he asked me out on a date. Well, okay, he didn’t really ask me out. We were hanging out in the backyard after we’d treated ourselves to a fancy dinner, after a long day of training. Victor was caressing my hand with his thumb, and we sat next to each other, trading stories.

“So have you had a lot of boyfriend or girlfriends?” Victor suddenly asked, sounding a bit nervous. “What?!” I said, almost jumping up. “No! I- I mean, not really!” I said, stumbling over my words. Victor just smiled and squeezed my hand. “I’ve only ever had one serious girlfriend. We broke it off after a terrible date, which by the way was worse than the date where- ““I don’t want to hear about your collection of dates!” I said, interrupting him rather harshly.

Victor just shrugged. “There’s not too many of them. That one girlfriend and I had a couple, sure, but besides that… I guess I’ve hang out with possible romantic interests, but besides her, there weren’t any real dates.” He looked at me through his mop of silvery hair. “Unless today counts?” He said, and I tried to convince myself he didn’t mean it like that and…

Fuck it. Fuck that stupid part of my brain that tried to make excuses, fuck everyone that thinks Victor is too good for me, or that he’s going to ruin it. Fuck it all. “I’d like that, actually.” I said, no doubt blushing again. Victor’s eyes went big with joy, and he put his head on my shoulder. “Best date I’ve had so far, then.”

For a few minutes we didn’t really say that much, content to sit there in silence together. I was feeling a bit sleepy, so I leaned my head on Victor’s, trying not to move too much and disturb him. All of a sudden, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and pretty much jolted up. Victor saw what I was looking at and laughed.

Standing before us was a dragon, I shit you not. It was small, smaller than an average Labrador, but still scary. It had shiny, dark black scales and intelligent eyes. It tilted its head and I gasped in shock, seeing its stomach. It wasn’t scales, like the rest of its body, but something that was completely see-through. Victor was watching me in amusement, laughing as I stared at the dragon’s abdominal.

The dragon didn’t have organs, like I’d expected, but instead its stomach was filled with everyday items. I saw a hairbrush, some coins, a sweater and even a pair of boots. “What _is_ that?” I asked Victor, who smiled at me. “That is a _Cogego_. I’m surprised you haven’t seen it before, it actually lives here.” I looked at him in surprise, had I really not noticed this creature before?

“It’s very shy.” Victor said, petting the dragon on its nose. I took a closer look at the dragon, and especially its belly. “Hey! That is that book I thought I’d lost!” I said, spotting a book with a familiar green cover. “Oh, yeah it is!” Victor laughed. “A _Cogego_ is a creature that collects the things you’ve lost. Once you make a place its home, it will accumulate objects you either have lost, or no longer care for. It takes pleasure in keeping possessions safe, and will rarely return anything.”

I stared at the little creature, suddenly finding it a bit cute. “Well hi there little one.” I said, reaching out slowly to pet it. It let me, for a little while. Then Makkachin comes running toward us, barking like a madman. “Makkachin doesn’t really like _Cogego_ that much.” Victor said, raising his eyebrows at his dog. “Competition for petting I guess.”

I nodded, watching as Makkachin ran after the dragon until it flew away. “Has the _Cogego_ ever given something back at you?” I asked. Victor laughed. “Not to me, no. He once swallowed Yurio’s new phone, and gave it back after Yuri yelled at it for hours.” I giggled, imagining Yuri shouting at a tiny dragon.

Suddenly, another creature I hadn’t seen before approached us, and Victor tensed. “ _Ina_. What are you doing here? My family’s forbidden you to come here years ago!” The creature was a tiger, which for some reason had the head of a red panda. The creature opened its mouth, and a voice so ice-cold came out, that it made me feel cold to the bone.

“Vitya, I told you I’d come for you. You made a deal with me. It’s almost time for you to pay up.” _Ina_ said, coming closer. “The deal was not completed, you monster! Whatever debt I had to you, I’ve paid.” The creature hissed, squinting its eyes. “The deal was indeed not completed, but your debt isn’t paid. You still owe me a chicken.” I shook with fear, and I saw Victor look worried. “Be gone, _Inagris._ You will never have the _Pulloquentes._ ” The creature hissed again, but ran off.

“Victor? What was it talking about, what was that?” Victor sighed, letting his head hang a bit. “That was _Inagris_ , a monstrous creature that wishes to use the _Pulloquentes_ for evil. She makes deals with people, trying to lure them into giving her the chickens.” Victor stared at me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Promise me, Yuuri, that you’ll _never_ make a deal with her.”

I nodded, frowning. “Did you almost make a deal with her?” Victor sighed again, and let go of me. “Yes I did. Even attempting to deal with her is dangerous, as she has a mental hold over the people she makes transactions with.” “What was it about?” I asked, not sure if I was crossing a line. Victor looked as though he wasn’t sure if he ought to tell me or not.

“Remember when I said the _Pulloquentes_ had predicted something for me? Well, I think that was about you.” I looked at him, shocked. “Me?” Victor nodded. “They basically said I was going to leave you at a moment you needed me. Of course, that could mean so many things, but I can’t help but worry.”

I stayed quiet for a bit, thinking back to when we’d met. “Did you offer to coach me because you knew about the prediction?” I asked, suddenly nervous about Victor’s intentions. Victor shook his head, taking my hand. “I chose you because of the way you skated like you were making music. You drew me in from the moment I saw you. That I’d fail you in the end seemed irrelevant.”

I smiled at him, squeezing his hand softly. “It is irrelevant. And you don’t know if you’ll fail me. Maybe I’ll need some ice cream in the future, but you’ll leave to go on a holiday before getting me some.” I knew I was being silly and unrealistic, but Victor and I were only just beginning what could be a relationship. I wanted this, had wanted it for a while. I didn’t care he could hurt me, that chance was always there.

When I looked up at Victor, he was shaking a little. I was surprised, he always seemed so confident, a fact I’d noted a lot in these past months. Could it be he was really nervous because of me? I took both of his hands in mine, trying to comfort him. “Thank you for believing that, Yuuri.” Victor smiled. His eyes shot to my mouth, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me.

Spoiler: he didn’t, but that was okay. He took my hand to his mouth and kissed it softly, looking up at me with sparkling eyes. “I will try.” Victor said, taking a deep breath. “I will try to be there for you, always.” I squeezed his hand, smiling.

 

Flash forward two months and it was time for my second competition. It was the fourth competition of the set of four, and I hoped that it would be the one that’d place me in Nationals. At the second competition, Yuri was beaten by JJ, but managed to keep Christophe at bay. Yuri now had 3 points, effectively ensuring a spot in Nationals. Christophe had 4 points, so he was probably going to Nationals as well. Phichit had 6 points after the third competition, so for him it was going to be a fight.

Today I would be facing JJ, Otabek, Minami and a few lesser-known skaters that didn’t really pose a threat. I wasn’t really at my full potential today, as my trainings had been less intense lately. Victor and I were both so focussed on each other, we had trouble keeping our head sharp for practice. It was a bit annoying, but I’d convinced myself that I would be fine.

Well, my Short Program proved otherwise. I was immediately passed by most skaters, as I didn’t feel the Eros today. My skates seemed to be heavier than usual, my arms less graceful and my head was most definitely not in the game. What was wrong with me? Did I not skate for Victor? Why, then, was it so hard for me to skate? All I could think about was him!

And that was my problem. I needed to get a grip! Of course it is important that I think of Victor, he is my ultimate inspiration and thereat my boyfriend. However, the way he was hovering in my mind all day just clouded my thinking, and was not effective at all. Victor seemed to notice too, and we were both really quiet, until moments before the Free Skate.

“Yuuri?” Victor asked, looking nervous and really insecure. “Yeah?” I asked, afraid of what was to come. “Maybe we should break up.” Victor blurted, biting his lip. I stared at him. And stared. And stared. Until at some point his face was blurry, a result of the many tears that were now streaming down my face. Victor looked shocked, but he did not try to calm me.

“How could you say that!?” I half-shouted, not caring about the people, and cameras, that witnessed my little outburst. Victor, apparently shocked, stayed quiet. “I know that my skating’s been terrible, I know that! But I won’t skate _any_ better if you’re not by my side!” I said, trying to stop my tears from falling. Victor opened his mouth, but then apparently changed his mind.

He lunged forward, capturing my lips with his. We’d kissed before, obviously, as we’d been dating for two months, but this? This wasn’t the sweetness of our lazy kisses, nor the slight lust of the kisses that left me out of breath. This was determination. This was Love, with a capital L. This was… Right.

Victor pulled away, taking my hands. We hadn’t any time to discuss what his kiss meant, but I gathered no words were needed. Victor and I, we were better together. Now I just had to show everyone here today, everyone watching at home. I had to convince myself, and him.

So I did. No, it wasn’t the best performance ever seen in Men’s Figure Skating, and I didn’t dramatically run to Victor afterwards, but it was enough. I placed third, gaining a total of 5 points. Otabek, cheered on by Yurio, placed second, with now 6 points. JJ came in first again, ensuring everyone knew he was a strong contender for gold at Nationals.

I was going to Nationals, in two months. It was going to be tough, harder than any competition I’d entered before. And it was going to be worth it, when I held that gold medal in my hands.

 

A little piece of advice for any aspiring villains reading this: when everything in your opponent’s life is going well, it is the moment to strike. At this moment, your target will be so indulged in the goodness of the world, they’ll never see you coming. Believe me, I’d know.

Apparently there was a group of skaters (Some retired, some still active) that had watched Victor like a hawk during his time as my coach. It was illegal to discriminate people for having magical abilities, but it was also illegal to use magic to win Nationals. Victor had been forced to leave the skating world because his success had been written off as a magic trick.

Yuri, who was now turning out to be as successful as his brother, was being watched too, but since he’d never won Nationals before, they allowed him to prove himself. Victor, unfortunately, did not get the same treatment. They day before we were to leave for the Short Program, three policemen came to take Victor away.

It was planned perfectly, to their credit. Victor would have a trial, to prove his innocence. This trial would be the day after the Free Skate, ensuring that Victor was in custody the entire duration of the Nationals. Technically this would mean I could not compete, as I no longer had a coach, but when Lilia saw the broken expression on the face of her eldest son, she would not yield until Yakov was signed on as my coach, while she remained Yurio’s.

I tried to thank her, but she just shot me look, although with less venom than usual. “Just make it worth it, kid.” She said. I tried to do as she did, I truly did, but without Victor there to coach me, to cheer me on… I failed.

The Short Program I skated may’ve been even worse than the one at the last completion. My jumps were sloppy, my step-sequence almost ended in disaster and I was sure my nerves were all over the place. Still, I was lucky to be in third, JJ having overestimated himself hugely. When we got home, Yakov tried to cheer me up, which was nice of him, but yeah… It didn’t work. “Come on, don’t sulk now. You can still perform a great Free Skate.” Yakov said, his stoic voice almost kind.

“What do you care?” I said, storming off. Why did this have to happen? Everything had been all right, but now, because of the judgement magic people faced, Victor had left. I couldn’t win without him there. Crying, I sat down in the front yard, seeing _Pravuchri_ look at me from their place next to the gate. I wasn’t in the mood for company, and I think it sensed that. _Pravu_ had proven themselves to be as kind as they come, but I really didn’t feel like talking to them right now.

A cold, scary feeling suddenly took over me, and I felt a breath as cold as ice in my neck. I turned around swiftly, only to find _Inagris_ behind me, the expression on her face unreadable. Remembering Victor’s words about her, I took a step back, toward the house.

“Fear not, young Yuuri.” She said, her voice not as cold as I’d remembered it. “What do you want?” I said, trying to figure out how long it would take me to run to the house. Not that I’d get there, the _Inagris_ was probably a lot faster than me.

“To make a deal with you.” _Ina_ said, not bothering to hide her true intentions. For some reason, I found myself respecting that. “You obviously want Victor here with you, to help you win your competition. I can do that for you.” She spoke, coming closer to me. I took her in, in all her dangerous glory.

I knew she could help me; Victor’s fear for her was enough to convince me of her abilities. The question was, was it worth it? Was I willing to do something Victor had established as a peril, only to gain something, someone, dear to me? Could I trust her to do as I asked?

I’d never find out. Suddenly, Yuri was there, in front of me. He blocked the way, effectively stopping me short of making a decision regarding the creature. _“Inagris_. Be gone. You know what happened the last time you defied me.” Yuri spat, his words like venom. _Ina_ hissed, but listened instantly, making me wonder the power Yuri must possess, to get a creature like her to obey.

“What were you thinking?!” Yuri shouted, effectively gaining my attention. “Well, I-“I started, but I was interrupted right away. “Obviously you weren’t! Do you _know_ how dangerous that creature is? Did my brother not warn you at all?” Yuri’s rage was visible all around us. Birds and other animals quickly left, the sky seemed to cloud and the air felt cooler to my skin.

“I wasn’t going to actually do it…”I said, but my voice sounded weak, even in my own ears. Yuri sighed, seemingly calming down a little. “What is going on with you? I know you and my brother are… more than friendly, but why is him not being here messing you up like this?”

I let out a puff of air, not confident to talk to Yuri about this. Truth be told, I didn’t know why it was bothering me to this extent. Of course, Victor was the most important person in my life right now, but did that mean I couldn’t perform without him there? Yuri took my silence as an answer in its own, and sat down on the ground, patting the spot next to him.

As I sat down, _Pravu_ walked over to us and sat down opposite of us. I didn’t as much as flinch, a fact that Yurio noted. “You’re not afraid of them anymore.” He said. “Why?” “I think it’s because I know them now.” I said, looking at _Pravuchri_ and, indeed, only seeing the familiar face, instead of the shifting horror I’d gotten used to.

“When you get to know someone, and you look at them, you no longer see: ‘straight nose’, or ‘nice eyes’ or ‘too many zits’. When you know them, you think of that time they listened to you when no one else did, or how they have the ability to turn any edible food into something delicious, or how they wouldn’t hurt a fly to save their own life.

“People are more than the features they received from their parents. When you first meet them, all you see is genes, premeditate aspects of a person that they have no way of truly changing. Given time, those genes will melt away to show who that person is inside, and that is how we determine beauty.

“Not everyone experiences this, there’s too many a men who’ll never look past the predetermined. They’ll be stuck in that phase of superficial beauty forever, and I pity them for it. They’ll never be able to look at this creature and not be afraid. They’ll never take the time to get to know before they judge and so they’ll miss out on an aspect of life that I consider to be quite wonderful: true beauty.”

Yuri stayed quiet for a while, probably contemplating my words. I didn’t know where all that wisdom was coming from, but I didn’t care. I was in a mood to rant, and to not have anyone ask questions. Yuri sighed after a few minutes. “You really miss Victor, don’t you?”

“He’s my family, as much as my parents and sister are.” I said, not apprehending the veracity in those words until I spoke them. Yuri looked at me, hurt. “I’m your family, too.” He said. He looked both upset and angry at the same time, an expression I figured only he mastered. I was surprised at his statement, had not thought him to see me as a part of his exclusive family. I was touched though.

“You are.” I said, smiling at him. Yuri looked down, at his hands, and up again. “Victor’s innocent. My parents have proof.” “I never doubted his innocence.” I replied. “Victor wouldn’t cheat whilst skating or coaching.” Yuri nodded his agreement. “Yeah, but the court’s not going to take that as proof. Thing is, Victor doesn’t even have magic.”

“What?” I said, completely astonished. Victor wasn’t magical? Yuri smiled at my expression. “Magic is a recessive gene, carried through families without most of them knowing. My mother isn’t magical, though she carried the gene and passed it on to me. My dad’s magical, and so am I, but Victor and Lilia aren’t.” I nodded my understanding, and it stayed quiet for a while again, until Yurio spoke again.

“What if I told you there was a way to get Victor out of there for a few hours tomorrow?” He said, whispering. I looked at him, my eyes going big as teacups. “Are you kidding me?” I said, excitement flooding me like a tidal wave. Yuuri nodded solemnly, signalling for me to be quiet.

“It is, however, illegal, and I do not recommend doing it without careful planning.” Yuri said, smiling devilishly, but sternly. “I don’t care, I’m in.” I said, trusting Yuri at once. Yuri smirked, tapping _Pravu_ on their arm. “How about you? You wanna help us out?” I tilted my head. “Can _Pravu_ help us? I thought he was just the gatekeeper?” Yuri laughed, and _Pravuchri_ tilted their head in amusement. “Did Victor tell you that? Probably did, as he doesn’t know what this creature can really do.”

“Well, what can they do?” I asked. “Teleport. Beside them, we’re going to need _Cogego_. Who else could we use? The _Pulloquentes_ would probably only annoy me…” Yuri continued mumbling to himself, and I tried to help him think of animals and creatures that could help us. “How about Makkachin?” I asked. Yuri raised an eyebrow at me. “Well that’s just fucking stupid.”

Together, we made a list of creatures that could help, and ways to convince them that this cause was worth it. I hadn’t heard of most of them, but I had to agree with Yuri, it was quite a team. Tomorrow, we’d get up extra early to retrieve the help we needed, and then we’d be off to the place where they were keeping Victor. I just hoped I wouldn’t be in deeper shit than I was now…

 

So these were the creatures we’d be working with today. Yuri had gathered a few _Fortica_ in a small box, magically forming some air holes in it. _Cogego_ would come with us, along with his dragon-friend _Somnivus_. _Pravu_ would take all of us into the building, where we’d work together to get to Victor unseen. Well, I wouldn’t be of a lot use, albeit being the one that’d inspired this mission.

As Yuri and I were gathering the creatures, a question struck me. “Why are you helping me? If this works, I could beat you today.” Yuri’s face looked like it was stuck between livid and kind. “Because if you don’t do your best today, my beating you won’t seem valid.” And then he added something in a quiet voice, only just audible. “And you’re kind of my brother too.”

_Pravuchri_ ’s teleporting was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. Like seriously, it was as if I was being thrown off a cliff and ended up in the most prison-like-building-that-wasn’t-a-prison ever. Carefully looking around us to see if there were any guards or other people around, I led our little posse toward the rooms were the not-prisoners were kept in not-cells.

I’d been surprised how easy it was to find an online map of this place. Honestly, it was like they were asking us to walk in and replace Victor with an illusion that could eat, sleep and talk. Oh, that’s what we were going to do by the way.

_Cogego_ had the task of grabbing the keys from one of the guards. It seemed impossible, _Cogego_ was not exactly tiny, but Yuri assured me that nobody would notice. Surely enough, once _Cogego_ had spotted a guard putting down her keys on a little table, I only blinked once and before I knew it, _Cogego_ had snatched them and returned to where I’d been hiding.

“Nice job, mate!” I said, petting the little dragon on his head. It made a sound that I supposed was a purr, and then barfed the keys on to the floor in front of me, along with a lot of slime and objects I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the identity of. “Thanks.” I said, picking up the keys. Yuri had made sure there were no guards near the ‘cells’, by setting off the fire alarm in the other part of the building.

Swiftly, we ran through the long corridor, until we found the room Victor was in. Yuri tried the keys, checking each and every one of the at an agonizingly slow pace. “Hurry up!” I said, afraid the guards were going to check the people that were locked up here. Yuri shot me an annoyed look, as he tried the last key. It didn’t work.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked worriedly, looking through the tiny window in the door. Victor was staring out the window, apparently oblivious to the fire alarm going off all throughout the building. Yuri sighed, pushing me out of the way. “I brought the _Fortica_ for a reason.” He got the ants out of his pocket, and put a few of them through the lock.

“Is that going to work?” I asked, confused. “Of course.” Yurio said, pursing his lips. “They’re fucking magical ants.” I was about to make a snide remark, when the lock clicked and the ants came crawling out, onto Yuri’s hand. “What the-“ Victor started, but stopped when he turned around and saw us.

His eyes went big, and but a second later he was in my arms, hugging me tightly. Yuri just grinned and left the room to get _Somnivus_ to start on the illusion. “Hey, you.” I whispered, my voice breaking a little. God, how I’d missed his touch. Was it wrong to miss him after not seeing him for only a few days? If so, I didn’t want to be right.

“What are you doing here? Are you and Yuratchka breaking in?” Victor said, pulling away from me enough to see my face. “Think of it as breaking you out.” I giggled. “You can watch me perform today, and we’ll have an illusion of you here.” Victor smiled broadly at me, taking my hand. “I see my brother has had an atrocious influence on you.”

“Say that one more time and I’m cancelling this mission!” Yuri said from the hallway. He walked in, an impeccable copy of Victor beside him. “I’ll keep you invisible when Yuuri’s performing, but you can’t make a sound or people will hear. I don’t know if I will be able to hold the enchantment when I’m skating, so you’ll have to hide in the locker room then.”

Victor didn’t answer, he just put his arms around his little brother and held on against Yuri’s efforts. And off to the competition we went.

 

I’d been working for this for eight months. Eight long months filled with training, only getting breaks to not break me mentally. I’d expected this to be a big thing, heavily loaded with tension and anxiety. But now that it was here, now that I was truly about to perform my Free Skate, I didn’t really feel that bad at all. All I could do right now was try to win, to leave the skating-world with gold.

The music started, the soft, familiar tones soothing what little anxiety was left in me.

I’d always thought of skating as dancing, a ballet performed on ice. Victor had told me my body created music whilst skating, and I tried to use that to give the piano that backed me up more emotional power. My performance was virtually perfect, for the first time since I started skating it. With Victor watching, it was so much easier to give my all, to leave nothing inadequate.

It was probably not a good thing to be so dependent upon one person, to not be able to perform well when they weren’t there. I’d only known Victor for eight months for God’s sake! It’d taken me longer than that to even call Phichit a friend, and I wasn’t dating him. But Victor made me feel things I’d never felt before. They were scary, to be honest.

I’d never felt this much anxiety being around someone. The first time he held my hand and didn’t let go immediately, I was sure I was having a heart attack. When he kissed me, on my cheek or head, I always insentiently smiled and ducked my head a little. I tried to convey that in my skating, the way he scared me in a good way.

My jumps were the moments between us I remembered most, my step sequence the romantic things he’d text me when we weren’t together, my spread eagle was the way I felt when he wasn’t near. Something dawned upon me, almost making me lose my focus.

This was supposed to be my last performance as a competitive skater ever. I was going to leave after this. Victor didn’t know yet, but I had to tell him at some point. Only… Was I really ready to leave? To never feel this sensation again?

Honestly, it was over before I realized it was. I was stretching my arm toward Yakov, and Victor who was hiding invisibly for everyone but me behind him. Applause was audible all around me, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was Victor’s eyes, filling with tears, his mouth, a heart shaped smile and his hands balled to fists to keep from making noise.

I couldn’t miss this, this beautiful feeling on ice. I couldn’t live a life where I wasn’t competing. If I won today, I had to continue to show them it wasn’t a one-time thing. If I lost, I had to come back next year to try again. I couldn’t, wasn’t, going to leave.

All through the rest of the day, from hearing I came in first, to conceiving the gold medal, it was Victor that was on my mind. Only when the reporters were shoving microphones in my face and Yurio poked my side with his elbow, did I realize what was going on. Oh my God, I’d won! Fuck, I had to think of something to say! Fuck. Victor. I was so in love with him.

Saying that on live television may not have been the best move there, but at least it made Victor smile. The reporters asked questions for what felt like hours, wanting to know everything about our relationship and my gold medal. Yuri got questions too, but he answered distantly and grumpily. Understandably, as he’d just came in second instead of first. It also wasn’t helping that JJ had worked his way up to third place.

When we were finally released from reporter-hell, Yuri pulled me aside with a serious look on his face. “See you next year, moron.”

 

_Pravuchri_ was going to bring Victor back as soon as possible, taking the _Somnivus_ with them to remove the illusion, hopefully before the guards noticed. Before they left, though, Victor kissed me. It was a long kiss, but sweet and gentle and wonderful. It left me feeling tingly and I’d almost asked Victor to stay a little longer, but I realized there was no way for him to stay.

Not yet anyway. Tomorrow, I promised myself, tomorrow I could be in his arms again. There would be ages for us to be together after today, especially since I’d decided to stay in competitive skating for at least one more year. I just had to hold on for one more day.

When Victor was released, we celebrated with champagne, and even Yuri got some. Victor and I danced together, locked in a tight embrace. “Yuuri?” Victor whispered softly. I made a sound that sort of resembled a ‘hm?’ and Victor smiled. “You know that me leaving you during Nationals might not have been the prediction the _Pulloquentes_ made, right?” He said, sounding nervous. “I told you, Victor. I’m not leaving you.” I said.

And so we danced, forgetting about that for now. Makkachin danced around us, receiving pets from everyone he bumped his nose against. “Makkachin knows something is to be celebrated, don’t you, little fluff-ball?” Victor cooed. Makkachin barked loudly.

I petted Makkachin enthusiastically, laughing as he wigged his tail in delight. “Well aren’t you a smart little magic doggie?” I said, scratching Makkachin behind the ears. Victor snorted, covering his mouth with his hands as a means to hide his amusement. “What?” I asked, frowning. Victor saw the look of pure confusion on my face and then belted out in laughter. Confused, and honestly a bit offended, I hit him on his arm.

Victor tried to stop laughing, I think, but then he couldn’t hold it in anymore. His eyes, wet with tears of laughter, sparkled brighter than ever. I have to admit that in that moment, I, too, had to laugh. Not due to the joke that apparently was too good to be true, but because of how cute Victor looked, laughing his ass off. After a few minutes he quieted down, and was kind enough to give me an answer.

“Yuuri, what makes you think that Makkachin is magical?” Victor said,

I looked up, eyes big. “What.” I said, realizing. Victor had never said Makkachin was magical. Yuri had said that the idea of taking Makkachin with us to save Victor was stupid. Makkachin had never talked, or done anything that could be taken as magical-dog behaviour. Victor had turned out to be magic-less, too. I felt all the eyes in the room on me, and I blushed. “I just assumed…” I mumbled, as Victor once again started laughing. “I’m so sorry Yuuri, but that’s hilarious!” Victor said, bending over from laughter.

I’d like to tell you I showed everyone I’m not as much of an idiot as I seemed in that moment, but all I could see was Victor’s heart-shaped smile, and all I could hear was his laughter. I just kissed him softly, succeeding in probably annoying everyone in the Nikiforov household.

Well, everyone but Victor. And me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I’d like to dedicate this fic to DeathDoesntDiscriminate, as she always reads the shit that is my writing and she comments and motivates me and generally is an awesome human being tbh (: Thank you so much Solnyshka <3 <3 <3
> 
> Oh, and if any of you were wondering: yes, the title is a reference to High School Musical (don’t judge lol)


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